The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. Mrs Nuala O LoanO. Presentation to. CACOLE Conference 2005

Transcription

1 The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland Mrs Nuala O LoanO Presentation to CACOLE Conference 2005 Current Issues in Police Accountability 5 October 2005

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3 The statutory duties To register and classify complaints To investigate, informally resolve or seek mediation of complaints To recommend necessary criminal or disciplinary action against police officers To provide management information to the Secretary of State, the Policing Board and the Chief of Police To secure the confidence of the public and of the police in the complaints system

4 POWERS OF INVESTIGATION Police Ombudsman investigators all have law enforcement powers for the purposes of the investigation, e.g. Powers of arrest, search and seizure Powers to access and seize documentation or property Powers to secure incident scene Using all necessary ancillary support e.g. forensic, scientific, technical and medical support

5 Deaths caused by the Police If there is a state killing there must be an Article 2 compliant investigation: Prompt Independent Capable of identifying those responsible Involving a sufficient degree of public scrutiny and information to the next of kin of the victim Jordan v UK, Kelly v UK, McKerr v UK, Shanaghan v UK May 2001

6 Types of Incidents in which Firearms are used Police under fire or threat of fire from gunman Stopping fleeing suspects allegedly driving straight at police Stopping stolen cars Stopping vehicles which will not stop

7 How we Investigate: 24/7 immediate call out Scene management, preservation and access Forensic Strategy meeting Seizure of weapons other than baton guns Examination of police vehicles etc as required Other forensic/photography/medical/mapping issues Appointments of Exhibits Officers Appointment of Family Liaison Officer Appointment of Disclosure Officer Risk Assessment meeting

8 How we investigate cont d/.. Post Mortem issues Media Strategy meeting Establishment of Major Incident Room Use of specialist advisors Witness identification Door to door enquiries Hospital enquiries Video tape collected from police, army, commercial premises and community members

9 How we investigate cont d/.. Relevant General Orders on weapon training, issue, deployment and use Any intelligence reports relating to the victim, other suspects, incident or location (includes national security materials) Weapon issue and return Quantity of ammunition issued and returned Details of Gold/Silver/Bronze Command personnel for both spontaneous and planned operations

10 How we investigate cont d/.. Gold/silver/bronze decision logs Radio transmissions Incident logs Officer Reports Officer training records for type of weapon used Officer Human Rights Training record Officer Public Order Training Record (for baton gun usage) Use of Force and Conflict Resolution Model Training

11 Issues for the Investigator Appointment of Post-Incident Managers Nature of incident Nature of context within which the incident occurred Management of incident scenes Adequacy and effectivess of any pre-planning for incident Adequacy of supervision and management of preplanning and incident Any criminal conduct Any disciplinary issues arising from breach of Code of Ethics

12 Reporting on the use of Secretary of State firearms to: Northern Ireland Policing Board Chief of Police

13 Community Presentations

14 Churches Outreach People with a disability Politicians Other Statutory Organisations NIHRC,CCRC Catholics Youth-schools Ethnic Minorities Protestants Police - Students -Serving - Specialist NGOs, CAJ AMNESTY etc. LGBT Community Criminal Justice Community Community Groups

15 Thank you